Money Saving Apps

Everyone loves saving some money while shopping!

Prior to me going grocery shopping, not only do I grab my coupons, but I will also take a look at my grocery shopping apps to see what kind of deals are out there. Here the 7 grocery apps that I use when I shop.

“Favado is a mobile savings app that helps shoppers stop overspending by notifying them when their favorite items are on sale. Favado has money saving experts who hand select sales and coupons every week — in more than 65,000 grocery and drugstores nationwide — to enable discovery of the best deals for savings up to 70% on everyday items.”

So when you go on Favado’s app you are able to choose stores based on your area. You are then able to look through what is on sale at that store and the app also shows you what coupons are available for those items. It will tell you if the coupon is from a website, flyer (Smart Source or Red Plum), or if it is a printable coupon. You can also compare sales at different stores to see if one store has a better price on a certain item.

Checkout 51 updates their list of products that they are offering discounts/savings on every Thursday. You scan through their offers and select the ones that you want to use. Then it’s off to the store. Once your shopping is complete, you simply upload a photo of your receipt through their mobile app or their website. As soon as your account reaches $20, they send you a check.

Ibotta gives you a list of products for each store that they have cash rewards on. You unlock the rewards by playing games, watching quick videos, or learning some trivia. If you are shopping online you can visit the store you want to get the reward from right though the Ibotta website. If you are using your phone you can either submit a photo of the receipt of link your loyalty card to your Ibotta account. I like the linking of the loyalty card because you don’t have to worry about loosing your receipt or it getting wet and unreadable.

“Earn cash back at the grocery store with nothing to clip or print. You can redeem our grocery offers by linking them to your supermarket and drugstore loyalty cards or by submitting a picture of your receipt. We’re known for our Healthy Offer of the Week, “One or Many” high value rewards, as well as offers on your favorite brands.”

A benefit that I’ve found for SavingStar, other than linking to your loyalty card, is that the offers are usually substantially higher and last longer. You can continue to build up to reach your reward for a particular brand over the course of a month sometimes.

Fetch is a great tool to use. As you are shopping you scan each barcode on your products. The app keeps a running total and you earn points based on the total purchase price. The special offers that are in Fetch for that particular store will discount immediately on your phone/tablet. When you are done shopping, you simply hand the cashier your phone/tablet and they scan the barcode provided on the screen. This populates their register with everything that you’ve purchased. You have a basic idea of what your bill will be when you get to the checkout lane. The only thing not calculated in is sales tax. Before you give the cashier your phone/tablet you also have the opportunity to use your accumulated points to receive products for free.

If you shop at Target, you had better installed Target Cartwheel on your phone. Cartwheel allows you to pick additional savings on select items through the store. You can pile additional discounts on top of Cartwheel discounts, such as RedCard savings and coupons. The cashier will scan the Cartwheel barcode on your phone at checkout and you will receive your savings instantly on your receipt.

The WalMart Savings Catcher app is nice because you just do your regular shopping. Then once you have gone through the checkout lane your receipt will have a barcode or a QF code on the bottom. If you scan this code with the app, it scans competitors ads in your area for better deals on the items you purchased. If the app finds a local competitor at a lower price it puts the difference on your account. You can then cash out your account on to a WalMart eGift card.

All of these apps for your phone/tablet are great ways to save while shopping. Go check them out and see what you think.